The Media Arts Bachelor Degree at Chatham University explores the creative tension between individual expression and the social and political forces that shape global, mediated networks within culture. Students are asked to become agents for change within the context of their discipline, asking critical questions of the impact of media in an increasingly global arena. Graduates will be prepared to assume leadership roles in media arts production industries or to pursue graduate programs in related fields.

The mission of the Media Arts major is to develop individuals who are interested in exploring and conversing in the language of visual culture. To accomplish this mission students not only work with technical applications but also integrate those skills with concepts informed by critical theory, history, and self–exploration, all while keeping in mind the artist’s role in a greater social sphere. Students assume creative, scholarly, and leadership roles that will integrate and inform any other field of study while developing the creative approach that will allow them to stand out.

1.   INFORMATION LITERACY

a.    Students must effectively locate and gather information for research and media-related analysis through a variety of information media.

b.    Students must be able to properly evaluate the quality of the information and its sources.

c.    Students must utilize their knowledge gathered from various media sources to render well-communicated, designed and conceptualized projects and/or research papers in response to their contextual analysis.

2.   CRITICAL READING

a.    Students must evaluate films, photos and design projects and theories related to critical visual studies through a combination of written and online texts, hand-outs, journal articles, film/video screenings, artist discussions and in-class lectures, conversations and demonstrations.

b.    Students must assess the quality of gathered and presented information as well as its sources.

3.   ANALYTICAL THINKING

a.    Students must critically investigate and respond to the work of other media artists, filmmakers and theorists as well as the work of their peers during critique sessions.

b.    Students must look for multidisciplinary relationships between media arts and other fields of research, examining the role of the artist as well as film, video, photo, design and new media works within a broader social context.

c.    Students must exhibit a critical understanding of related technical concerns, representational issues, aesthetic practices, ideas and concepts through original projects and/or papers.

4.   PROBLEM SOLVING

a.    Students must transform critical and analytical research into well-conceptualized projects and informed responses.

b.    Students must be able to move from concept to project actualization.

c.    Students must have a strong understanding of the technical in order to properly troubleshoot and solve technical issues related to a project.

5.   PUBLIC WRITTEN COMMUNICATION

a.    Students must communicate clearly by writing research or response papers of various lengths, which support coursework requirements.

b.    Students must communicate their conceptual and creative concepts clearly in written project statements.

c.    Students must formulate a point of view and be able to defend it within the written format.

6.   PUBLIC ORAL COMMUNICATION

a.    Students must communicate ideas clearly in oral presentations.

b.    Students must actively participate in classroom discussions and group critique sessions.

c.    Students must formulate a point of view and be able to defend it orally.